FiiO AIR LINK

Bluetooth is finally earning audiophile respect — and the AIR LINK helps it along

For years, Bluetooth was the “only if I must” option for serious listening. That’s been changing. A couple of recent standouts — notably Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 and Sennheiser’s HDB 630 — show what’s possible when wireless is done right. I feel these devices have helped normalize the idea that Bluetooth can be more than pure convenience in that it can delivery some quality audio.

The remaining bottleneck is often the transport layer: many phones and computers default to basic, lossy codecs, for example all iPhones and Macbooks have only SBC or AAC and while Apples hardware implementation of AAC in their devices is pretty good when using a non Apple headphone or other bluetooth device with either an iPhone or a Macbook will involve a typically very poor quality sound. That’s where FiiO’s compact USB‑C transmitter comes in.

It adds broad, modern codec support (including very high bitrates and even lossless in the aptX family) to devices that otherwise cap you at SBC or AAC. In short, it lets your new wireless headphones stretch their legs.

Before we get into the technical specifications and codecs’ let’s have a look at the unboxing experience:

Unboxing and first look

The packaging is compact and protective:

With some specifications on the back:

The transmitter seated securely inside:

And it comes with some documentation:

The device itself is tiny and cleanly finished with subtle branding. A side button handles pairing, codec cycling (where applicable), and factory reset.

Clean, compact design

Pairing button on one side:	And the pass-through usb on the other

Features and everyday use

• Bluetooth 6.0 radio with strong range claims and multipoint support
• Broad codec support: LDAC, aptX Lossless, aptX Adaptive, aptX HD, aptX, aptX LL, and SBC
• Control via FiiO Control app (Android and iOS), including codec selection and status - Hopefully PEQ coming soon

In practice, setup is simple: press the side button to enter pairing, connect your headphones, and you’re off.

Notes from testing:

• Codec reliability was generally excellent; I found the aptX family the most robust day to day, with LDAC occasionally more finicky depending on environment.
• On iOS recently, I experienced the FiiO Control app hanging on launch. I expect this to be resolved quickly in an update.
• Volume can vary between codecs on some ANC headphones. For example, compared to native platform defaults, aptX Lossless sometimes played back at a noticeably lower level on a couple of models. This seems more about how individual headphones implement gain for different codecs than anything the transmitter is doing, but it’s worth being aware of.

Devices used during the review included Sonos Ace, Yamaha YH‑L500A, Nothing Headphone (1), and Audeze Maxwell. The experience was smooth overall aside from the codec‑to‑codec gain differences noted above and the latency was excellent ( I believe Bluetooth 6.0 has some tricks with low latency as does the AptX Low Latency codec).

Multipoint support made it painless to juggle between a phone and laptop.

Codec control in the app (and web tools)

One of the AIR LINK’s best tricks is that you can explicitly pick which codecs are enabled from within FiiO’s companion app.

Adding the device	Managing Bluetooth codec settings

| Pairing new headphones (Sonos Ace in this example): | Connected

headset overview	On IOS

And on IOS, it’s the same general experience:

App home	Bluetooth control	Firmware versions

Here’s how the transmitter presents on an iPhone once paired:

Note: Overall, I feel if you’re new to this kind of transmitter, it can feel a bit odd that pairing and codec management live in a separate app — that’s normal for the category. It’s worth skimming the quick start to avoid confusion on first setup.

FiiO Control web interface

FiiO also offers a lightweight web interface for certain controls, useful if you prefer not to install the app.

While the website often focuses on parametric EQ for other FiiO products, there are useful controls here for this transmitter too. You can access it at https://fiiocontrol.fiio.com.

If future firmware were to enable onboard EQ on this device, that would be a fantastic addition. I don’t feel PEQ is a missing feature, but if it had it and the ability, for example, to pair a specific device with a specific PEQ preset (or custom ‘preset’) that would be an amazing feature that would probably make me use the Airlink with all my Bluetooth headphones.

Indicator lights: colors and states

The LED communicates both status and active codec. The quick‑reference guide below is handy while you learn the colors.

And here’s a short demonstration of the behavior while cycling states/codecs:

Specifications and parameters

The tables below summarize the official specifications and the indicator‑light meanings.

Basic specifications

Supported Bluetooth codecs

Rating

• Pragmatic Rating (4/5): Broad codec support, tiny form factor, pass‑through charging, and genuine day‑to‑day upgrades for many devices make this an easy recommendation at the price. If onboard PEQ arrives and the iOS app hiccup is resolved, I’d happily bump this to 5/5.

Conclusion

If you’ve bought modern wireless headphones and want the best possible transmission quality from phones, tablets, laptops, or handhelds, this little transmitter is excellent value. Check which codecs your headphones support — some platforms will still cap devices like certain over‑ears at AAC — but for most contemporary models you’ll be covered with higher‑bitrate options, including even lossless in the aptX ecosystem. For travel, gaming, and casual desktop use, it meaningfully raises the ceiling on what Bluetooth can deliver.